The hour had come!

At my request Miss Wilson sat at the piano and played a few strains
of an old waltz we had been discussing. I stood beside her while
she sat there, and in tones trembling with the intensity of my
feelings I poured forth the old, old story. I told her of my love
in such words as I could command in my agitation.

Then, while my heart almost ceased beating, Miss Wilson told me in
the kindest possible manner of her appreciation of the offer and
also of her complete surprise. She said that while she esteemed me
highly as a friend and liked me personally very much, she had not
thought of me as a lover, and that she could not regard me in that
light.

To say that I was crushed by the blow, kindly as it had fallen, does
not express my feelings. When, however, in reply to my question I
learned that there was no one else--that she was still heart free,
I gained courage; and when, before I had left her that evening, she
had consented to leave the matter open until some future time, my
hopes of ultimate success were very far from being destroyed.




CHAPTER III.

A CO-PARTNERSHIP DISSOLVED